In the Middle of the Middle West

by Bradway, Becky

• ISBN13: 9780253216571
• ISBN10: 0253216575
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-11-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

The forty-one essays in this collection take their inspiration from the Midwest--not just from its physical terrain but from its emotional terrain as well. They come from writers of diverse backgrounds: from poets, novelists, filmmakers, and journalists; from those who came and stayed, came and left, or from those who were born and raised in this place. The array of perspectives, then, is not surprising. Essays revolve generally around issues of conflict between place and identity; and the theme of diversity--be it religious, sexual, racial, artistic, cultural, occupational, or geographical-runs throughout. Writers featured in this collection include Stuart Dybek, Scott Russell Sanders, Mary Swander, James McManus, Maxine Chernoff, Michael Martone, Cris Mazza, and many others of national reputation.

Author Biography

Becky Bradway is the author of Pink Houses and Family Taverns (IUP, 2002). Her essays have appeared in DoubleTake; E: The Environmental Journal; North American Review; Troika; and elsewhere. She lives in Normal, Illinois.

Table of Contents

Becky Bradway	xi
Introduction
OUTSKIRTS
Stuart Dybek	3	(5)
Midwest
Mary Swander	8	(6)
That Glorious Time of Old
James McManus	14	(5)
Your What Hurts?
Ben Alvey	19	(9)
Fag
Jaimy Gordon	28	(19)
Little Man in the Woods
GEOGRAPHY
Janet Wondra	47	(7)
Mid: One Tentative Taxonomy of a Region
Scott Russell Sanders	54	(9)
Big Trees, Still Water, Tall Grass
Reginald Shepherd	63	(8)
A Walking Tour of the Chicago Lakefront, with Detours
Sonia Gernes	71	(3)
Back Home in Indiana
Sheryl St. Germain	74	(2)
What You Can See Mid-Winter in the Midwest
Sheryl St. Germain	76	(5)
Walking the Prairie Rail Trail, Thinking about Loss
TRANSIT
Bonnie Jo Campbell	81	(8)
Railroad Crossings
S.L. Wisenberg	89	(9)
Connections
Rosanne Nordstrom	98	(3)
A Chicago Story
Sharon Solwitz	101	(16)
Abracadabra
CALIFORNIA, MIDWEST
Maxine Chernoff	117	(2)
Michael Jordan's Lips
Erin McGraw	119	(11)
Not From Here
Cris Mazza	130	(6)
Displaced
Robert Grindy	136	(13)
Desperately Seeking Blue Mound
WORKERS
Anne Calcagno	149	(4)
Still on Cortland Street
Jon Anderson	153	(4)
The Pluses and Minuses of Life in the Midwest
Doug Hesse	157	(5)
My Father in White, Above the Royal Blue
Richard Hounger	162	(3)
A Hard Saw
Richard Newman	165	(6)
Boilermen
Jenna M. Polk	171	(6)
Bits of Glass
ARTISTS
Martha Modena Vertreace-Doody	177	(5)
In Hyde Park: Momentary Stay against Confusion
Keith Ratzlaff	182	(4)
The Poet as John Nachtigal
David Radavich	186	(5)
Midwestern Dramas
Dan Gudlory	191	(9)
Being Midwestern
Robert Hellenga	200	(7)
Rural Writers
HOUSES
Curtis White	207	(7)
Excerpt from America's Magic Mountain
Martha Miller	214	(5)
No Queens on Pickett Street
Mary Troy	219	(9)
How Does It Feel?
John McCluskey, Jr.	228	(8)
J.W.
Philip Graham	236	(9)
The Baby Shower
REWIND
Sharon Darrow	245	(8)
Remembering Canute
Mary Helen Stefaniak	253	(9)
Positively 4th Street
Paulette Roeske	262	(5)
The Basement
Ricardo Cortez Cruz and Rodney B. Cruz	267	(12)
Welcome to the Land of Freedom
Michael Martone	279	(12)
A Menagerie of Mascots
Maura Stanton	291	(8)
The Basement
Contributors	299